Meteor Persistent Train
14th April 2010

This movie is a crop of a time lapse movie done 14th April 2010 in Lauca national park, Chile. It shows a meteor and its persistent train pattern evolution. Bright meteors like the one captured on this movie leave a train of glowing ionized atoms in the high atmosphere that might glow for several seconds. The train is then spread by the high altitude winds. Images here were taken every 15 seconds and are shown at a speed of 5 frames per second on this time lapse movie, this train therefore lasts several minutes, but the high altitude and clear atmosphere at which the images were taken (5000 meters/ 16500 feet above sea level) have certainly helped to make the phenomenon visible longer than usual.
Thanks to Dennis D.C for his help with the explanations.
You can find more information of this phenomenon and meteors in particular on the
International Meteor Organization (IMO) web site.